Texas

By Taylor Williams North Texas is attracting new and existing entertainment concepts at a frenetic pace as operators of these facilities seek to position themselves squarely in pathways of major growth and capitalize on any remaining pent-up demand from the pandemic. According to a 2022 report from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the region’s population surpassed 8 million last year. In addition, more than 20 cities in North Texas — the area that includes and surrounds the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex — saw their populations swell by 10 percent or more on a year-over-year basis between mid-2021 and mid-2022. This growth inevitably encompasses key demographics that entertainment operators covet, including families with children and young working professionals. High-paying jobs continue to flow into DFW in the form of corporate relocations and consolidations. Developer KDC recently began construction on Wells Fargo’s 850,000-square-foot regional campus in Irving. New pieces of the PGA of America’s headquarters campus in Frisco are coming on line every quarter and sparking feverish development in surrounding neighborhoods. Global engineering consultant AECOM and construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar are also in the process of relocating their headquarters from Los Angeles to Dallas, among others.  Checking the two boxes …